17 simple better Recipes

flour, sugar, salt, margarine, dark cocoa (it s better), cinnamon, soda, buttermilk, chopped dates, chopped nuts

shrimp (16-20 count ), olive oil, garlic cloves, minced, lemon juice (fresh is better ), red pepper flakes, sesame oil, wooden skewers

ground turkey, low-sodium chicken base (such as better than bouillon), boiling water, great northern beans, drained, green enchilada sauce, diced green chiles, undrained, onion, chopped, granulated garlic, ground cumin, dried mexican oregano, fresh cilantro, finely chopped, onion, diced

baked cheddar broccoli rice cups, thanks to fountain ave. grill: http://fountainavenuekitchen.com/baked-cheddar-broccoli-rice-cups, simple to whip up with ingredients you have on hand, this side is a sure kid-pleaser that adults will enjoy as well. i employ 1 of my favorite kitchen tricks with this recipe: any time i use frozen broccoli or spinach that needs to be thawed and drained well, i put it inside a tea towel and literally wring it out. you will be surprised by how much water is released, and getting rid of it will prevent your finished product from becoming soggy., vary the cheese if you like or bake in a casserole dish or jumbo muffins tins. for my better-for-you ranch dressing, quick-cooking rice , like minute rice (can substitute about 2 cups regular, cooked rice and omit the 1 cup stock below), chicken stock, frozen, chopped broccoli, thawed and excess water squeezed out, shredded cheddar cheese, divided, homemade ranch dressing (see recipe), or store bought, eggs, lightly beaten, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, low-fat buttermilk, chobani 2% plain yogurt, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, canola or olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, minced chives, whisk all ingredients together ., dressing will keep for a week or so, covered, in the refrigerator., if you prefer a thicker dressing , use approximately 1/4 cup of buttermilk depending on your personal preference and intended use.

chilled dry red wine, chilled orange juice, good brandy , like e&j, triple sec, white corn syrup (a better choice simple syrup , ), red grapes or 1 bunch white grapes, you can freeze them, sliced orange, sliced lemon, sliced lime

any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that, answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture)., by reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. you can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not., this is 1 of the most important tools in the kitchen , believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal., literally any liquid can be reduced ., a few uses, wine is frequently used in cooking , both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat., there are some problems with it though, 1 of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people., on the other hand , if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of gourmet ., more , you don tsp have to make your reduction on the night you prepare your meal. you can reduce a liter of grape juice at any time to the consistency and flavor you want; then just store it in the fridge., you can do the same thing with any fruit juice - prune is sensational - and store it until needed. just about all of them will do things for ice cream, pies or tarts that will have your guests demanding the recipe, pork with apple sauce use a carton of fresh apple juice from the supermarket and reduce it. and if you want a real sensation add in a glass of apple brandy during the reduction process., are you getting an idea of how simple this is, take any carton of fresh stock straight of the shelf and reduce it. you will transform it into something even the manufacturer won tsp recognize. but beware, you need to start out with good quality in the first place, because when you reduce a liquid you intensify all the flavors, and not just the good ones., if it s salty to start with, for example, it will be salty beyond belief by the time you ve reduced it even by half. so if you are going to use a supermarket stock, make sure it s an extremely good 1., believe me when i tell you that stock cubes should not be used for reduction sauces., thickeners, because you will be tasting as you go (won tsp you ), you may find that you get the flavor you want before the desired consistency is reached., a couple of hints right now for your sauces., sweet ones can be thickened successfully without loss of color by adding in liquid glucose early on in the reduction process. surprisingly, this will add little in the way of sweetness and produces a beautiful velvety sauce when whisked., if you get it wrong and add too much, no problem. stir in a little extra water to thin it., reduction pans, reductions need to happen rapidly in serving to preserve flavors. and the greater the surface area of the liquid the faster the water will evaporate., however you may want to whisk something into the sauce while its cooking - such as butter or olive oil for example - and for that i find a small wok is best; 1 with a handle., a wok is less likely to reduce so fast that the sauce is burnt while your back is turned. but try both methods and see which you prefer. you may even end up using something totally different., no magic to this. whatever works for you, that s what you should use, in this and everything else to do with cooking., just bear in mind that what you re after is speed and ease of use. as well as a great tasting result, of course. :>), keeping, if they should dry out , simply add a little water and heat through., sauces containing meat juices of any kind must be frozen if you re going to keep them, and should be brought to boiling point before being used again. there is no need to thaw them out to do this, in fact it s better not to. simply drop the frozen cubes into a saucepan, melt them over a gentle heat, and then bring swiftly to the boil., why do you do this to avoid food poisoning, that s why. you are making sure that any bugs introduced into the sauce during the preparation process are killed off., worry , this will not be because of anything you have done wrong (i hope!), but because bacteria are part of our everyday lives and they exist in every kitchen, however clean., in fact your food , and especially your meat, is crawling with wildlife that you will never see. don tsp worry about them. careful handling and simple precautions will ensure that these miniature monsters can never multiply enough to harm either you or your guests.

lean ground beef, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, vegetable beef soup, lipton onion soup mix, sweet corn, worcestershire sauce, instant minced onion, velveeta cheese, milk

ripe fresh tomatoes (ripe tastes better !), onion, lime, ripe jalapeno pepper (2 if you like it hot!), fresh cilantro, salt

lentils (green or french but not red split ), barley, vegetarian bouillon (i use reduced sodium better than bouillon), chipotle powder to taste, umeboshi plum vinegar to taste

venison steak , the bigger the better, wishbone italian dressing (wishbone brand works best)

boneless skinless chicken , in bite-sized pieces, coconut milk, chicken stock (or bullion, i use better than bullion ), curry powder, onion, chopped, cooking oil, extra firm tofu, cubed

butter, garlic cloves, minced, onion, chopped, peeled and diced tomatoes, dried dill weed, salt (optional), pepper, water, chicken base (better than bouillon), bay leaf, sour cream (optional)

chicken breasts, chicken bouillon (better than bouillon brand), cornstarch, water, water, coconut milk (full-fat ), ginger (minced ), white onions (cut into strips), garlic cloves (minced ), garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, olive oil

corn, thawed frozen (fresh is even better), green onions, finely chopped, red bell pepper, finely chopped, potatoes, cubed and cooked, chicken broth, whole milk (2% will give a thinner soup, part cream, richer), butter, flour, egg, beaten, salt, pepper, parsley (to garnish ) (optional)

white bread (french or italian simple bread, better if 1 day old), amaretti cookies or 7 oz other dry cookies (bitter almonds macaroons, for example), milk, eggs, bittersweet cocoa powder, amaretto , di saronno originale (optional only if you use other cookies), white sugar, butter, room temperature, raisins, chopped nuts (or almonds), grated lemon , zest of